Setting new year resolutions?

Have you set yourself some New Year Resolutions this year?

As a coach I’m a big believer in goal-setting and I develop clear goals for both my professional and private life at key points during the year, reviewing and refining them on a regular basis. I find that January provides a wonderful milestone to take stock of all that you achieved in the previous year and re-assess where you want to guide your life in the coming year – who you want to be and what you want to achieve.

I usually divide my goals (or resolutions) into my key areas of life – health and wellbeing, personal and professional development, relationship, social life, career and business, and finances, for example. I thought I’d share with you a few of the goals I’ve set myself for 2014…maybe it’ll inspire you to set some for yourself, and maybe it’ll also keep me accountable in following through!

Health & Wellbeing…To improve my energy levels and immunity I’ve decided, this year, to follow a cleansing detox-type healthy eating plan twice a year, once in Winter and once in Summer – I’ll be using the 21-day plan outlined in The Source by Dr Woodson Merrell, which includes recipes and meal plans for removing toxins as well as guidance on exercise, sleep, stress and breathing.

Social Life…Having lived in a few different countries (UK, USA, The Netherlands and now Australia) my friends are scattered far and wide and I often have trouble keeping connected with those important people in my life. The weeks or even months go by and I realise I haven’t even spoken to my best friend in England. So, one of my resolutions is to call or Skype one friend each week. Social connection has been shown to be a key factor in our sense of wellbeing and evidence suggests that life goals associated with a commitment to family, friends, social and political involvement promote life satisfaction more so than those associated with career and material gains.

Relationship…In addition to setting our own individual goals, last year my husband and I decided to commit to a ‘Relationship Resolution’. The idea being to give attention to further strengthening and deepening our bond in a way that would be enjoyable for us both. So we agreed to take it in turns each month to treat each other to an evening or a day out doing something different or visiting somewhere new. It’s been such fun enjoying new activities and exploring new cities together that we’ve decided to continue it for this year too…and hopefully for the rest of our lives! For 2014, we’ve added a new Relationship Resolution – to cook together once a week. The act of preparing a meal together is a hugely bonding experience, taking the chore out of cooking and instead making it a creative, collaborative experience.

Business…This year I plan to start writing a blog (tick!). I often have ideas that I’d love to share with you and I think a blog would be an appropriate outlet. I also plan to create a series of videos about coaching and NLP, their uses, approaches and benefits. So watch this space for a multimedia extravaganza! Work-wise I recommend you take some time to think about what you want to achieve in your career and how your current role can help grow you professionally this year. This may be in addition to the objectives you set with your boss. It’s about considering your working life in the context of what you really want out of life and making sure that your career steps are supportive and reflective of this.

If you’d like help setting clear goals and maintaining the motivation to get there, I’d love to help out! Visit Top Tips for Goal-Setting (to follow). If you’re really serious about making the changes stick and would like some coaching sessions to help get you there, feel free to drop me a line.